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I’ve always liked Jay Baruchel as an actor, though up until now he’s mostly been a supporting player in various comedic roles.  The new film SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE gives him a chance to play the leading man, and while the story may not be anything terribly new, the abundant laughs more than make up for that.  The film also co-stars lovely actresses Alice Eve and Krysten Ritter, along with potential Captain America candidate Mike Vogel, T.J. Miller, Nate Torrence, Lindsay Sloane, Kyle Bornheimer, Jessica St. Clair, Debra Jo Rupp, and a few other faces you may be familiar with.  It’s directed by Jim Field Smith, and this is incidentally his first feature film.

The story is fairly simple and familiar.  Jay Baruchel plays Kirk, a TSA Agent (you know, the security guys that wand you at the airport) who is an average and somewhat awkward guy.  Alice Eve plays Molly, a solid “10” who (in a hurry to get on a plane) leaves her cel phone at security, after having a brief but memorable encounter with Kirk.  When Kirk rescues the phone, and later returns it to Molly, she repays him by taking him out for a date.  This of course shocks both Kirk’s sarcastic and less than supportive friends, and Molly’s sassy best friend.  The chance encounter leads (unexpectedly) to more get togethers, and eventually it appears that Kirk and Molly are indeed “dating” one another.  More shock and surprise comes from Kirk’s less than supportive family, and his ex-girlfriend who lives with them now.  As things between Molly and Kirk heat up, Kirk starts to wonder how and why a girl like Molly would ever be interested in him, even leading to him second-guessing whether the relationship has a chance.  Adding to the conflict, one of Molly’s ex-boyfriends re-enters the picture, and seems to have his sights set on capturing her heart once more.

Again, as I said, we’ve seen this sort of story before, and there’s nothing revolutionary about the screenplay.  However, you will most likely laugh yourself silly while watching SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE, to the point of forgetting about the “story” aspects, and just enjoying the ride.  I credit most of the film’s success with it’s solid and engaging cast.  Most of the faces here aren’t big names, and some are very fresh indeed, which allows the audience to go through this without any drastic expectations.  Since we don’t know the actors all that well, we can just enjoy watching their natural talent, and really invest in their trials and tribulations.  The interesting thing about this movie is that it started off as a project written by Sean Anders (writer/director for SEX DRIVE) and his writing buddy John Morris.  Sean has been on the Bigfanboy Livecast multiple times, and he explained to me over a year ago that this was a project he left behind due to creative differences.  However, Anders and Morris are still credited as the writers here, and I have to believe their sharp wit and humor survived the break.

I enjoyed Baruchel’s leading performance, and he works well as a lead here, even if playing it awkward and somewhat nerdy.  However, I had a little bit of a problem with how disrespectful everyone around him was, particularly his family.  Kirk as a character isn’t just surrounded by bad people, he’s also weak in his own personality.  After a while you long for the stand up and get even moment, which never really comes, outside of him spending so much time with a smoking hot babe.  Even his mother (played by THAT 70’S SHOW star Debra Jo Rupp) is completely un-supportive, which just doesn’t sit well with me.  It’s one thing to have a dysfunctional family, but to have a family that is this consistently mean gets a little annoying.  Even Kirk’s friends seem only moderately encouraging, and never quite truly sincere.  I guess I have such optimistic faith in humanity that it sours me to see a man surrounded by such inconsiderate people.  It’s not a quality that ruins the film, but it is more than a tad frustrating.

Alice Eve is quite simply stunning – perfect casting here folks.  She’s meant to be a “10”, and she is, both in looks and personality.  That said, you may be hard-pressed to find a girl in real life that embodies all of the sincere qualities Molly does, while still exhibiting the overwhelming beauty she displays.  There’s always a bit of suspension of disbelief with these kinds of stories, so I can be forgiving of that.  The British-born actress does a fine job of abandoning her accent, and plays the all-American sweetheart rather well.  I see certain folks on message boards complaining about the movie calling her a “10”, saying she’s not even close.  I dare say watching the movie will absolutely prove that wrong.  I also really enjoyed Krysten Ritter as the best friend “Patty”, stealing many of the scenes with her abrasive and biting sarcasm, and all the while maintaining a sexy quality that is undeniable.  Ritter is so incredible nice in person, it’s a true testament to her abilities as an actress that she can portray a bitch so convincingly.

The rest of the cast are pretty solid in their deliveries, with perhaps highest marks going to Nate Torrence as the happy-go-lucky friend of Kirk.  Torrence got his start doing a lot of TV commercial work, and has made the jump to movies now.  His portrayal of “Devon” is very endearing and memorable.  He actually has one of the funniest scenes in the film, opposite Baruchel, and proves himself to be a comedic force we should remember.  Kyle Bornheimer also turns in a rather amusing performance as Kirk’s blunt and fast-talking brother, who always seems to say something highly inappropriate, making all of us laugh, and making Kirk very uncomfortable.  His character helps define Kirk’s day to day plight, and he really adds a nice layer to the film.

This is one of those movies that should (hopefully) find an audience, and get really strong word of mouth.  It may be lacking big name stars, but it more than makes up for that with its comedy.  Jim Field Smith makes the jump to big screen directing without flinching, and proves he can handle humor with the best of them.  This film made me think of THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY before it got over-commercialized and played out.  There’s a cleverness here that really hits home.  I found myself laughing almost uncontrollably in more than a few scenes, and thankfully the ending isn’t the typical Hollywood-style solution you might expect… then again, maybe it is.  I don’t know anymore.  But I can say this, SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE is solid laugh-inducing fun, and even the most hardcore cynics would have trouble keeping a straight face.  If only the real world allowed the nice guys to end up with the stunning (and nice) girls… can you imagine?  Only in a movie, and not always that way either.

Check out my video interview with Alice Eve and Krysten Ritter HERE.

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